Producing Entertainment is an Uncensored Creative Rush
Producing Entertainment is an Uncensored Creative Rush
Producing entertainment is an uncensored creative rush that not everyone gets to enjoy. Too many times there is that burning desire to produce entertainment, but caution throws water on that fire putting it out like piss on a match.
I have a couple of friends that have been telling me about different entertainment projects they have wanted to produce for a few years now.
I tell them to go for it because none of us know how long we will be around this planet. Enjoy yourself producing entertainment at least once to feel that creative rush.
Mental roadblocks are the biggest obstacles to producing entertainment. We all have our own personal demons and flaws we deal with.
One of my friends was bluntly honest with me that they avoided producing entertainment because of the criticism people will no doubt heap on you.
Producing Entertainment is an Uncensored Creative Rush
I got that. It is hard not to take it personal when someone flames your entertainment project with bile. If you have thin skin the producing entertainment is probably not right for you.
I told my friend scared of criticism that nasty and mean comments are unavoidable when you produce entertainment. That is just part of the gig.
I once had someone send me an email basically attacking my physical appearance and where I grew up along with the movie I made. In fact they attacked my mug on my book The First Movie is the Toughest, and then attacked a movie I made, and then attacked where I grew up.
Told me to go back to neighborhood whatever that meant. I told my friend it was no big deal. I don’t take criticism personal, even if it is straightaway against how I look or where I come from.
My one friend said they could not handle it. As much as they wanted to produce entertainment their mental roadblock is what people would say bad about what they produced.
Maybe I should have not told them about some of the really nasty emails I have received and shown them negative reviews online that bashed some movies I made.
I just figured it was better to let them know upfront that producing entertainment takes thick skin.
My last ditch effort to bring them around was sharing with them that producing entertainment is a creative rush that is amazing. You are taking an idea you have and turning into something real people can watch.
It is a great feeling to separate from the herd that only talks about producing entertainment and never takes real action to make it happen. The pep talk I tried to give my friend failed.
The mental obstacle of criticism was too big for them to get over. In their defense they have since stopped ever talking about producing entertainment.
They are out of thinking about the entertainment game at all, which is cool because being in the entertainment game I like to get things done and not just talk about someday producing this or that.
My other friend has had an idea for what I think is a really entertaining indie movie on a story he has lived growing up on the East Coast a little bit wild in his youth.
He wrote a rough draft screenplay and asked me to help polish it up. I did and we finished the screenplay.
It is written completely indie with limited locations, characters, and within resources he has available to him back East from cars to extras at no cost.
Slice of Americana Films is two person shop with limited in-house film financing between Tim “Timbo” Beachum and me.
We don’t fund outside projects, except we did make a creative and money investment in a horror movie called PSORO with UK based filmmaker Wayne Daniells (LiarDice Films) and SFX Artist Paul While (Graphic Delusions) because it is a killer project with good people involved.
After my friend had his screenplay done and a rough budget what it would cost to produce I helped him start putting together his pitch package for film investors.
His plan was to hire a New York based film crew where the movie would be filmed. He had vision for this movie, so wanted to direct, but still wanted me to be on board as co-director and producer.
I could see he was already starting to feel the creative rush that comes with producing entertainment. His regular gig was building custom homes, but producing entertainment was something he wanted to do.
That was until his mental obstacle reared its ugly head. His wife read the finished screenplay and flipped out. The story to hold true was going to be mostly shot in and around a specific strip club, a rundown massage parlor, and tow yard.
It was the story of a guy that started as a bouncer in a strip club worked his way up to buying his own massage parlor, then later alcohol and pain pill addiction sends him to a dark place where he loses it all going to prison and then gets his life back on track moving to California clean and sober.
His wife was furious that the screenplay had exotic dancers and massage parlor scenes that showed nudity to keep it authentic and realistic to the gritty storyline.
His wife was already jealous before the movie even started being filmed. The project was dead in the water. My friend is a solid dude and felt bad I had put in time to help with the screenplay and tried to offer me some money.
Friends don’t keep score. I didn’t want the money. I was more bummed he was going to miss out on the creative rush of producing entertainment.
Overall I feel lucky that Slice of Americana Films has been able to produce and sell entertainment with 3 more titles currently in post production.
Producing entertainment is a creative rush everyone should feel that has ever had the desire to take an idea and make it real. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT